links

One of the most frustrating features in Windows 7 is the over-integration of Libraries. Microsoft went overboard and decided that it was going to force people to use them no matter how much they disliked the feature.  Currently it is not possible to pin a specific directory to the taskbar but you can use another toolbar to accomplish this same task.

For those that want to be able to open locations via the taskbar you can use the Links toolbar.

  1. Right click on the taskbar, Select Toolbars -> Links
  2. Right click on the taskbar, Select Lock the taskbar
  3. Drag the Links toolbar to be next to the Start Orb
  4. Resize the Links toolbar by increasing the size of the primary taskbar and moving it closer to the links toolbar
  5. You can then customize the Links toolbar by removing titles and names of items by right clicking on the Links toolbar and un-checking Show Text and Show Title.
  6. To create a shortcut to a specific location right click on the desktop and select New -> Shortcut
  7. After you create the shortcut to where you would like, drag it to the Links toolbar. Delete the desktop shortcut if you would like.

Pinning is a nice feature of Windows 7 which is essentially a modified version of Vista’s Quick Launch.  The toolbar acts a lot like OS X’s dock where a shortcut that is opened then becomes the open application icon as well.  The major problem with pinning and libraries is that when you pin any folder or directory it automatically pins the libraries instead of the directory you would like.  Hopefully Microsoft fixes this before they release it but somehow I doubt they will.

via on10.net